(CNN) – Pre-empting President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday and the GOP response, Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri on Saturday sought to get ahead of the conversation.

The President "has a lot of explaining to do" in his speech, Blunt said in the GOP weekly address, criticizing Obama's so-called "Year of Action," a blueprint for 2014 touted by the White House.
As both sides gear up for this year's midterm elections, Blunt said the President's focus on income inequality, a likely hallmark of Tuesday's address, fails to recognize the harm his administration's economic policies have done on that goal.

"This administration's agenda to create more government, more spending, more taxes, and more debt has created an inequality crisis of opportunity in our country. Those policies have been disproportionately hurtful to the poorest among us for the past five years," Blunt said.

Blunt said the President has pitted one faction of America against another.

"We don't need more class warfare, and we don't need more interference from Washington. No government program can replace what a good job means for the future of a family," Blunt said, pivoting to Obama's sweeping health care initiative, the Affordable Care Act.

The Missourian said Americans are suffering as the White House picks and chooses which parts of the law to follow, pointing to the President’s failure to deliver on a campaign promise that if consumers had an insurance plan they liked before the law took effect, they could keep that plan under the law.

Blunt also hit Obama over the potential for job creation, possible with the approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which the Obama administration has yet to make a decision on, and the House-approved jobs bills stalled under Democratic leadership in the Senate.

"The President says he has a pen to sign executive orders and a phone to rally support. The Congress should insist that he find the Constitution and follow it."

soundoff(41 Responses)

just me

Wonder what spontaneous outburst they have planned this year.

January 25, 2014 03:52 pm at 3:52 pm |

Fish

Sorry Charlie Tuna!!! It's the repulsive right who have explaining to do about your selling out to Wall Street, lying about our President, nullifying Congress, humiliating our nation before the world and oh must I say it, treason and subversion!!!

@Fish,thanks for putting out some facts about the treasonistic republicans and their agenda to destroy America at the presidents,taxpayers expense..It'll be payback time I predict at midterms and the republicans motto of jobs,jobs,jobs will be used for them because they'll need it!!

January 25, 2014 06:12 pm at 6:12 pm |

rs

I dunno Mr. Blunt- the GOP still has no legislative accomplishments of note for 5 long years. The GOP voted against: equal pay for women; against civil rights; passed 268 laws on female reproduction; crashed the government in October, and tried to crash the economy-again. And you think The President has to account for himself? You, sir, are demented.

January 25, 2014 07:24 pm at 7:24 pm |

tom l

@wire
"The Kochs have purchased a million acres in Canada next to the oil property." – that's a dem talking point
"Blunt is merely doing what paid for senators do." that's a dem and repub talking point
" It is rumored that the brothers could make over a hundred billion dollars." – that's a dem talking point "
Roy and the elected republicans will get a big donation if they can pull this off." – that's a dem and repub talking point
====

You seem to have a habit of excusing bad behavior by the dems with bad behavior by the repubs. Donations make politicians corrupt? Wow what an insightful and brilliant assessment. What research and thought must have gone into such a deep and impactful statement! A senator is bought and paid for? Really??? No way! I really want to commend you for such incredible comments. I am not sure how you are able to come up with such important and insightful comments about repubs and why they're so bad and dems are so good. I'm sold. You're right. Repubs bad. Dems good.

January 25, 2014 09:10 pm at 9:10 pm |

Connie

What has the do nothing Congress accomplished besides the government shut down cut needed programs cut food stamps for veterans cut education vote in their raises could have stopped the cut in unemployment benefits what have they done for our country?

January 25, 2014 09:22 pm at 9:22 pm |

W.C.

Dear Sen. Roy Blunt, The citizens of the United States are so tired of hearing the opinion of the 1% as filtered through their GOP slaves. President Barack Obama doesn't have any reason to explain anything other than his inability to carryout his compassionate beliefs due to the obstruction of a Political Party that hates the Federal G
overnment and any Citizen who is paid less than one million dollars a year. I have a new slogan for the GOP as evidenced by the murder of two innocent young people in Maryland today: "Todays gun murder brought to you by the NRA – Proud owners of the GOP".

January 25, 2014 09:29 pm at 9:29 pm |

ThinkAgain - If you want Congress to actually do something FOR the American people, vote OUT the Repub/tea bag majority

@Rick McDaniel: If President Obama were a dictator, his political enemies would be dead and posters like you would be disappeared. Neither has or ever will happen, so why don't you take your meds like a good little chap, Rick, and step away from the computer?

January 25, 2014 10:32 pm at 10:32 pm |

David Nice

I think that the Republican Party's leaders have a great deal of explaining to do as well. Mr. Blunt apparently isn't aware that presidents have been issuing executive orders for many years and that all of our recent presidents, including Presidents Nixon, Reagan, and both Bushes made extensive use of executive orders to help shape policies. I don't recall hearing Mr. Blunt denouncing President GW Bush's use of executive orders as a general practice. Did he think that the government shutdown, which was largely engineered by right-wing groups, or the repeated GOP efforts to block action on almost everything President Obama has tried to do has been good for the country?

January 25, 2014 11:02 pm at 11:02 pm |

S. B. Stein

If Roy Blunt and other Republicans would actually work with the president and compromise, then there would be little need for the language he is using. Why is there such opposition to this president?

January 25, 2014 11:31 pm at 11:31 pm |

Ron L

If Senator Blunt wants to help the under privileged of our society he will support raising the minimum wage to $10.50. Otherwise he is ALL talk, and NO ACTION like many politicians. It is not Class warfare when you acknowledge that the middle class has not seen any real wage growth in 20 years while the upper class has seen their wealth grow 5 to 20% per year in the same time frame. America has attempted giving the wealthy tax breaks and the reduction of unions in the work force for the last 20 years and the results are before us. The question is are we going to make an adjustment in our tax codes, give workers a fair raise, and get the country on the right path. Also, in closing we need to get off fossil fuel as quickly as possible without hurting the economy. Don't need the XL pipe line, that oil is just to darn dirty.

January 26, 2014 01:28 am at 1:28 am |

NATHAN WIMBERLY

The radical extremist Guns Over People tea potty have already written their responses before they even hear the speech. Those talking points all over again.

January 26, 2014 06:34 am at 6:34 am |

don in albuquerque

More self promotion from one of the members of the do noting party.

January 26, 2014 10:04 am at 10:04 am |

Name You really believe in this?

No left or right. The language of money is just one. They are playing a duality just to confuse us so their masters keep holding the world in their hands. Just for profit... it's so disgusting!

January 26, 2014 10:52 am at 10:52 am |

just saying

after the 2010 summer of recovery lie and all the obamacare lies, i'm sure the year of action will be another joke-lie-scam.

January 26, 2014 01:48 pm at 1:48 pm |

anonymous

don in albuquerque
@rick mcdaniel- Why not look up dictatorship on wiki and see what one really is. Then look up fascism and compare it to our current set of political groups and see who comes close to matching. And by the way, if we were living in a dictatorship you would have already been rounded up and sent to a gulag. Or an asylum.
---

Or arrested and jailed for making a video that was used in a lie and coverup, or have the IRS (as well as many other federal agencies) target you, or unilaterally declare laws unenforceable. Dictators also used these weapons as well. Do they all sound familiar? They should, because they are all Obama administration actions.